Twenty-One and Counting
by Madrigal-in-training
Summary: The twenty times that someone thought that Naruto and Gaara were a couple, and the one time that they were actually right. NaruGaa
1. Chapter 1

Twenty-One and Counting: Chapter One

_**The twenty times that someone thought that Naruto and Gaara were a couple, and the one time that they were actually right. NaruGaa**_

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Temari was in the Kazekage's office, delivering an armful of papers for her brother to sign. Despite the aloof expression on his face, she knew that Gaara was irritated by the way his hands periodically spasmed. It was a small detail that he rarely showed unless he felt safe by the watcher, and that warmed Temari's heart even as she smirked. The curse of paperwork was exactly what her brother desered for terrifying her for most of their childhood.

The wind user enjoyed the relative tranquility for only a few moments, because by the a panicked Chuunin had burst into the room.

"Kazekage-sama!" he shouted, kneeling down, "I'm here to bring a report about visitors!"

Gaara turned his gaze away from the papers with barely hidden relief, and nodded. The boy took that as permission to continue.

"Border Patrol Squad C15 claims to have seen Jiraiya of the Sannin approaching from fifteen miles away, sir," Hadashi Toka reported, professional and only slightly out of breath.

"Jiraiya?" If Gaara had eyebrows, than they would have been raised. :Is he accompanied by anyone?" Temari stared at him. Was that anticipation, she'd just heard?

"He was followed by a young man of around fifteen years old, with spiky blonde hair, a black and orange jumpsuit, and three whisker marks on each cheek, sir," Hadashi explained, "He was also wearing a Konoha forehead protector. They will have arrived to the gates in twenty minutes. Do you have any orders for us, sir?"

Temari brightened at the words. There was only one person who would fit that description, and Temari was looking forward to seeing that goofy blonde again. Absently, she watched Gaara dismiss the Chuunin and stand up. She made a mental note to increase border patrol training. Only twenty minutes warning? That was disgraceful.

"Shall we go and greet them then?" Gaara asked, passing by her without waiting for an answer. He was instantly followed by four masked ninja in dark ANBU clothing Several more would undoubtedly be keeping an eye on him from the shadows.

Suna was typically hot today, with the blazing yellow-white rays of sunshine making the smooth dunes of sand sparkle. The roads of packed sandstone were only slightly less bright, and lined on each side by either colorful market stalls or tall, proud buildings. It was quite crowded today, but a pathway easily formed when people recognized their beloved Kazekage.

Across from the street, three boys were playing with a bright red rubber ball. One of them kicked the ball particularly strongly, and it raced past his friend and rolled into a stop in front of their small party. Temari had made a moe to pick up the ball, when a tendril of sand, easily as thick as her wrist, snaked around her to encircle it.

"Here you go," Gaara said, surprisingly gentle as he returned the ball to one of the boys who had just run up to them.

The boy with the ball grinned. "Thanks, Godaime-sama!" he enthused. Temari couldn't help the small smile on her face as Gaara nodded to the boy and the three children raced away. This is why Gaara made such a good Kazekage. He loved his subjects and they, in turn, loved him.

Soon the retinue had made their way to the Western Gate. It was mostly empty of people at this time of day, but two rising dust trails showed that their guests were coming. As they approached, Temari easily recognized the long, white hair of the infamous Toad Sannin, and besides him, her brother's savior.

Naruto Uzumaki had certainly grown up. His spiky blonde hair had lengthened a little, and his headband was adjusted to let some of his hair hang straight. Blue eyes were ringed by a circle of smoky violet, and the whisker marks had faded into pencil-thin sketches on his skin. The smile though, was still large and silly and endlessly cheerful.

In fact, had Temari not been in a- whatever the hell it was- with Shikamaru, she would have tried to snag the boy for herself.

Naruto had been so busy arguing with his Sensei that he didn't even notice that they were there until he was a few feet away. When he did see Gaara though, and that was where his gaze had fastened after briefly skimming over the rest, his eyes widened and his smile became- if possible- just a little brighter.

"Gaara!" Naruto shouted in greeting, and that was the only warning the Kazekage received before a blonde missile impacted his chest for a hug. Everyone else just either watched in amusement or shock, especially as Gaara's sand began to sway as long chains in the air, but made no move to attack. The ANBU also found that they could make no move, though that was because of the tendrils of sand that were wrapped around their legs in a casually threatening manner.

"Hello Naruto," the redhead greeted, as he extracted himself from that violation of his personal space, "I'm glad to see you, but what business do you have in Suna?"

The blonde pouted, "Can't I just visit you because you're my friend? But yeah, Ero-Sennin is here to negotiate the renewing of our treaty or somethin'. I don't see why Granny Tsunade picked him. All he's good at is being a pervert."

"Oi!" the man in question was offended, and with good reason, Temari believed. Honestly being accused of something as stupid as perversion by a Great Sannin-

"I'm a super pervert!" She stood corrected.

"I look forward to continuing the Suna-Konoha Alliance then," Gaara said, voice low and brokering no interruptions, "I shall have my shinobi prepare a room for you at one of Suna's best hotels, Jiraiya-sama. Please take the time to rest from your journey. I trust that you will be staying in Suna for a while?"

"A week," Jiraiya confirmed, slightly surprised at being offered only one room. Temari was also a little concerned. Suna had mostly recovered from their economic depression from a few years back, and Gaara was rarely this stingy, much less with a valuable ally, such as Konoha.

It wasn't her place to question her Kage though, at least not in public. They exchanged a few more pleasantries with Jiraiya, as Naruto stayed silent, content to watch them. At the end, Jiraiya turned towards the direction of the hotel and began to walk away. He stopped after a few feet, looking back to see that Naruto hadn't followed him yet.

"Hey gaki, you can talk to your friends later," Jiraiya ordered, "Right now, you need to unpack all of your stuff at the hotel."

Naruto gave the older man an easy smile. "Nah, it's okay. I'll be bunking over at Gaara's place. I'll see you tomorrow, Ero-Sennin!"

The white-haired pervert stared in shock as Naruto turned around and faced Gaara again. Temari and the ANBU guards, along with anyone nearby, also stared, but this time with reproach.

Making the assumption that you're guaranteed a room at the Kazekage's mansion? What arrogance! What nerve! What disrespect! What-

"You're cleaning up the bed in the morning," said Kazekage informed his happy-go-lucky friend, "I despise messy beds."

The two began to walk away, cheerfully chatting about any and every mundane topic under the sun, or at least Naruto was chatting as Gaara listen impassively. They seemed either unaware of or indifferent to the stares of surprise that they were attracting. Temari followed behind dumbly, just catching the mournful whimper of, "But he's supposed to like boobs!..." coming from the direction of the Sannin.

As the onlookers whispered though, or as the ANBU exchanged significant glances, Temari smiled. She seemed to be doing that a lot lately. And it was always caused by this one blonde jinchuuriki. Her brother had chosen well.

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	2. Chapter 2

Twenty-One and Counting

Chapter Two

_**The twenty times that someone thought that Naruto and Gaara were a couple, and the one time that they were actually right.**_

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The Kazekage's mansion was a large structure made up of marble and sandstone, two materials that formed an elegant, airy structure of two floors and twelve rooms in a vast courtyard. A natural formation of jagged rock rose behind the house as a natural defense, and desert flowers- mainly cacti- were artfully arranged outside. Naruto thought that it all looked lonely.

"Ne, Gaara? You don't live here all alone, do you?" Naruto asked.

His friend blinked. "No, Kankuro and Temari also lie here with me."

"I'm glad then," the boy said, a little wistful, "You won't be lonely here then, if you have your precious people nearby."

"Was that what concerned you?" Gaara asked, smiling as the other boy nodded, "That is very kind of you, Naruto. You are a good friend. I hope that you will also do be the honor of choosing a room here."

Naruto's mouth opened and his eyes widened comically. "Me? Are you sure Gaara?" H used his hand to point to himself, as though Gaara meant to give the honor to someone else.

The Kazekage gave the other jinchuuriki a warm nod. "You are my closest friend, Naruto. I wish for you to be comfortable whenever you visit me."

A pleased blush covered Naruto's face, and he rubbed at the back of his head in embarrassment. Although he often acted outrageously for attention, he rarely received such positive regard. And from a precious person too! One who would probably understand Naruto the most. Gaara kindly allowed the Uzumaki to compose himself, empathizing with the overwhelmed boy's feelings.

After a few seconds, Naruto had composed himself to a sufficient degree, and demanded a tour. Gaara was pleased to show his energetic friend around. Naruto's expressions were always so amusing: awe at the size of his home, horror at the lone packet of expired ramen in his kitchen (Naruto had to ransack all of the cupboards and drawers just to find it) and fear of the corner room (where the Shodaime's ghost apparently lingered). The redhead was gratified when his friend promptly requested the room next to his, which- unlike his own- was furnished with a bed.

He was showing Naruto some of the rarer flowers in his yard, when the blonde suddenly had an idea.

"Gaara, let's build a swimming pool!" the boy shouted eagerly, grabbing his friend's hand with one of his own and gesturing expressively at the wide, expansive grounds with the other.

The Kazekage gave the blonde an expression of bemusement. "Naruto, we're in the desert," he pointed out.

The blonde sent him a dazzling smile. "Yeah… but I have a sealing scroll with enough water for a small lake, and three new Suiton jutsu! I can also put seals against the edges, so that they absorb the sunlight and it doesn't hit the water!"

Gaara was still regarding his friend with a bit of incredulity. "While that does sound impressive… a swimming pool, Naruto? In the desert?"

"I swear that it'll work!" Naruto gave him the full blast of his Puppy Eyes no Jutsu. Gaara was disheartened to note that this only made the expression even more endearing and Naruto cheered.

"Now, we just need a big hole," Naruto looked at the redhead expectantly. Gaara took in a deep breath, drew deeply from his well of chakra- expertly ignoring the crazed sounds of Shukaku- and formed a single ram seal. Under Naruto's deeply impressed gaze, the sand seemed to rumble and shift away- slowly at first, then in even larger amounts, until they were standing besides a deep hole. It was four meters in diameter and three meters deep, in the shape of a horizontal ellipse. Trickles of silt ran down the edges, but the sand seemed to be mostly compacted.

Naruto then withdrew a sealing scroll, poured in some chakra, and tossed it into the air, yelling "Kai!" Water gushed out of the paper, a steady hose that had begun to fill the bottom of the pool, until it suddenly tapered off.

"Eh? What the hell?" Naruto asked, annoyed, as he jumped down to the water. It only came up a few inches, thus turning the bottom of Naruto's pants wet, but negating the use of water-walking. With a displeased expression, Naruto picked up the soggy paper and read the sealing parameters.

"Damn! Ero-Sennin used up all the water again!" Naruto shouted, stomping his foot, "That lecher! I bet he just wanted an onsen to lure in the ladies and- eh?" The blonde looked down, confused as to the squelchy noise his shoe had just made. When he saw the foot or so of mud that had quickly formed from the rapidly absorbed water, he grimaced.

"Damn," he repeated, as Gaara merely watched. Underneath his aloof demeanor and passive face, the redhead was cackling at his friend's misfortune. Or at least he was before Naruto attempted to remove the mud.

Now, Naruto could have easily cleaned himself up by jumping back to the ground and shaking his leg a few times to dislodge most of the mud. Maybe even throw in a small Suiton jutsu to clean his pants. That's what anyone else would have done, but Naruto- being NARUTO- decided that this was the perfect time to practice his jutsu.

"Futon: Spinning Wind Blades!"

Perhaps Naruto had put in too much chakra, or perhaps he had yet to master the jutsu, and both were very likely, but the small tornado quickly spun out of his control. Feeding off of the steady breezes of Suna, the tornado rapidly enlarged, keeping Naruto in it's locus of control. Mud was quickly picked up by the wind, spun around, and splattered everywhere.

It took only a few minutes for the tornado to end, but when it was done, everything in a five meter radius was covered. The cacti, the building's west wall, the ground… and yes, even Gaara. His sand had not reacted quickly enough to create his ultimate defense, so the redhead was covered almost head to toe in rapidly congealing mud. He was not amused.

He may have let it go had Naruto not looked up, saw his face, and started laughing. The blonde didn't even have a speck of mud on him due to being the eye of the storm. This was something that he clearly took great delight in as he chuckled loudly, holding on to his stomach with both hands and doubling over in laughter. Gaara's non-existent eyebrow twitched.

And a second later, an arm of sand twisted around Naruto's leg and tugged. With a sound more appropriate on an adolescent girl, Naruto tripped over and fell, face-first, in the mud. He stilled. Gaara smirked. He pushed himself up. Gaara chuckled. He smiled. Gaara blinked.

"This. Means. War," Naruto enunciated slowly, picking up a handful of mud, "War!"

It didn't take very long for Naruto to throw the mud, or for Gaara to retaliate. Soon the two boys were both in the hole, trying to bury each other in mud, more brown than any other color. Gaara's mastery of terrain was easily matched by the small army of Narutos, and both boys were too stubborn to give an inch.

Naruto suddenly threw back his head, and gave a long, mirthful laugh. He gave the Kazekage his customary foxy grin, then tackled him around the waist, using the force to push them both into the mud. Then the blonde started to tickle his prisoner. It was to this scene that a brunette Jounin walked in.

"Hey Gaara, I'm ordering lunch and I want to know if you want anything… Gaara?" Kankuro, who had just arrived home and ventured into the courtyard, paused as he saw the suddenly still figures of his brother and another man.

Gaara and the man were both covered in mud, on the ground, with the other man straddling the latter as if Gaara wasn't the Kazekage, wasn't a jinchuuriki, wasn't… straight? Kankuro was sure his brain just a bit as he took in the little details: the placement of the man's hand- right on Gaara's chest- the way their legs were pressing together, the fond smile on his brother's face.

The puppeteer wanted to cry. Gaara… _Gaara_ was getting more action than him. Sure it was with a guy, and Kankuro would rather have a pair of large boobs on his lover of choice, but it was still action. Bad enough that Temari was dating that shadow user, now he was getting beaten by his antisocial, previously homicidal _younger_ brother.

Also, you'd think that the Kazekage had enough proprietary to not have sex where anyone- like his ANBU guards- could see him. Unless, Gaara was an exhibitionist. But Kankuro was _not _going to go there.

During the brunette's mental freakout, Gaara managed to push himself up to his elbows, dislodging the blonde and calmly sitting down.

"I shall have udon," he said, in his monotone voice, "And you, Naruto?"

"I'll have ramen!" the unknown man, apparently Naruto, replied happily, "I like all of the flavors, but Miso is my favorite!"

"Got it," Kankuro squeaked, blushing and backing away, "I'll be back in an hour. On second thought, I'll be at the kitchen. You guys can go there when you're- uh… done here. Sorry for interrupting!"

As Kankuro turned and walk-ran away, the name came back to his head.

Wait, NARUTO?! Huh… that actually made a lot of sense.

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	3. Chapter 3

Twenty-One and Counting: Chapter Three

_**The twenty times that someone thought that Naruto and Gaara were a couple, and the one time that they were actually right.**_

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"Gaara, can I try on your hat? Please?"

"Naruto, this is the sacred symbol of all Kages, and of the leaders of Suna in particular. I cannot just allow people to wear it on a whim."

Naruto pouted. "Plllleeeaaassseee?"

"No." Simple, succinct, and with only a hint of reluctance.

"But I won't be wearing it for too long! I just wanted to see what the hat felt like on my head. It's preparation for when I become Hokage, dattebayo!"

Gaara considered his friend's plea. On the one hand, he was not a Suna nin, which should be reason enough for Gaara to reject him. On the other hand, Naruto was his trusted precious person and- not be a ninja of Suna- was not bound by the village's laws regarding the hat. And he seemed to want it so much too.

"I suppose it couldn't hurt," Gaara allowed.

The other boy perked up as Gaara removed the white and green hat, with the kanji for wind on it, and placed it on Naruto's head. He stopped back to admire the effect. The wide-brimmed, sloping hat easily fit over Naruto and set off his golden hair and tanned skin easily. It wasn't the least bit difficult to believe that he'd been bred for that position.

"What do you think?" Naruto asked, both hands clutching the ends of the hat in reverence.

Gaara spoke honestly. "I think that you were born to be a Kage." He was rewarded with a beaming smile. The hat was tilted partially to the right though, and Gaara raised his hand to adjust the skewed article of clothing. Naruto was moving away at that moment though, and Gaara, still tugging at the offending hat, tilted forward, making both ninja slip over.

Gaara landed, somewhat roughly, on his plush chair, and Naruto fell on him a second later. The redhead's hands came up reflexively to draw around his friend and keep Naruto from falling. Naruto leaned back, fighting against the draw of gravity as Gaara's hands tightened. The blonde looked up, hat still skewed, with mouth open to thank his friend for the help.

That was when Baki walked in.

Now, some people might think that there's only one was that a person could interpret this scene. Naruto, blonde hair glowing from the sunlight, eyes bright, and lips parted as he looked up to Gaara, the Kazekage's hat still on his head. Gaara, slightly flustered, smiling down at him, arms wrapped securely around the boy in his lap.

However, Baki had assumed that his student didn't even _have_ a sex drive.

So, his first thought was: "Is Gaara being attacked?"

His second was: "Hey, isn't that the blonde gaki who had beat Gaara?"

His third thought: "Fuck, Kankuro was telling the truth."

His last thought: "If that blonde brat beat Gaara, then there's no way I can kill him. Damn."

The Kazekage looked at his former jounin sensei and current advisor quizzically as the man turned around and dumbly walked away.

"Baki-san? Are you okay?" the boy was somewhat concerned as his ex-sensei had become an important person to him.

"I'm fine, Kazekage-sama," Baki replied, mechanically, "If you'll excuse me, I am taking a week off to go to Konoha and kill Shikamaru Nara. I may have failed you Gaara, but I won't fail Temari."

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	4. Chapter 4

Twenty-One and Counting: Chapter Four

_**The twenty times that someone thought that Naruto and Gaara were a couple, and the one time that they were actually right.**_

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Temari, Gaara, and Naruto were at a training field in Suna. The blondes were there so Naruto could teach the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Yoko a new wind technique. Gaara was there because he hated paperwork and wanted to spend as much time with Naruto as possible before the blonde left. It wa to that effect that he brought a book to read as his sister and friend practiced. The ANBU guards were there too, but they were hidden in the shadows, and largely ignored by those three. Being in ANBU was rather boring if all you did was guard your S-ranked leader, especially when he was in a terrain that he could use as a weapon.

"This technique is called Dancing Wind Current, and it creates a mild to fast stable gust of wind that you can use to glide over the air," Temari explained, "Of course, you'll need something to balance on, so I brought a few of my fans."

"This is going to be awesome," her temporary student chattered excitedly, "Thanks a lot for taking the time out of your schedule to teach me, Temari."

She favored the boy with a smile. "Call me nee-chan," she said, mischievously, tilting her head in the direction of an oblivious Gaara, "After all, we're practically family."

Naruto looked confused. "Ah… okay, nee-chan. Whatever you say."

"The first thing you'll need to learn are the hand seals. These are pretty simple: ram, dog, and snake," Temari showed the symbols briefly, "Then channel chakra to the center of your palms, hold it outwards, and release. Then jump onto the current with your fan. If you do it quickly enough, people will assume that you called down the win purely with elemental manipulation."

Naruto nodded, and practiced the hand seals a few time without adding chakra. He'd like to get started on the jutsu right away, but Jiraiya had drilled into his head the importance of getting the symbols right before you wasted chakra- or, in the case of seals, blow yourself up. Say what you like about that man, but he was a competent shinobi. An awful, _awful_ teacher, but a competent shinobi.

Besides, he didn't want a repeat of the Tornado incident. He had gotten mud in areas where no man should have had mud.

"I'm surprised that you didn't just jump into the technique," Temari remarked, pleasantly surprised.

"I don't want to screw this up in front of Gaara," Naruto confessed, still focused on his hands and missing the "_aw- he's so adorable!_" expression on Temari's face.

"You know, Naruto, we've never spoken that much," Temari added, "Most of our interaction was at the Chuunin Exams when you beat Gaara. That was pretty impressive."

Naruto didn't puff up with pride like she'd expected him to. Instead, he frowned, one hand lightly resting on his stomach.

"Well, it's not that impressive actually," he started, hesitantly, "I'm also a jinchuuriki, you know… the best person to fight a jinchuuriki is another jinchuuriki. Besides, when Shukaku was released, he didn't use any tactics at all. If Gaara was in control, I'd probably have lost. Gaara's really smart after all."

The Suna kunoichi nodded. "Gaara spent a lot of childhood reading. He couldn't really sleep or… Shukaku… would devour his soul."

Naruto winced. "It's not fair," he whispered, "Out of the two of us, it's always him who suffers. His assassins, his insomnia, his demon… I hate that."

"Yeah…" Temari was quiet, "You know, it's really hard to tell if you're a jinchuuriki. You haven't gone crazy, you're always smiling… you must have a great seal. Gaara's seal is strong too, now that your sensei's had a chance to look over it."

Naruto gave her a sad smile. "The Yondaime was the best seal master Konoha ever had." They sat in silence for a few minutes, before Temari suddenly spoke.

"You're good for him," she said, awkwardly, "You changed him… gave him back his heart, his humanity. I don't see him smile very often, but I saw at least three in the last two days. You bring out the best in Gaara. Thank you."

Naruto's answering smile was warm and dazzling, and Temari could see, with almost painful clarity, why her brother so enamoured with him. Naruto could bring out the best in anyone.

"We should practice now, nee-chan," Naruto said, bringing his hands together determinedly, "I have to get stronger to protect my precious people. That way, when Akatsuki makes a move for Gaara, I can kick their ass all the way to Iwa!"

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